Negotiable Instrument with Dual-Sided Variable Printing

ABSTRACT

An article for use as a negotiable instrument includes a substrate having a front side and reverse side; first machine-printed information on the substrate&#39;s front side including an account number associated with the negotiable instrument, and a unique identifier associated with the negotiable instrument, the first machine-printed information uniquely identifying the negotiable instrument; and second machine-printed information on the substrate&#39;s reverse side that corresponds to the first machine-printed information such that comparison of respective images of the substrate&#39;s front and reverse sides indicates that the images correspond to the same negotiable instrument.

BACKGROUND

This document relates to negotiable instruments (e.g., checks) andprinting thereof.

A check is a type of negotiable instrument that orders payment of moneyfrom a bank account. The person writing the check, the drawer, has atransaction banking account (often called a checking account) wheretheir money is held. The drawer writes the various details including themonetary amount, date, and a payee on the check, and signs it, orderingtheir bank or financial institution, known as the drawee, to pay thatperson or company the amount of money stated from the checking accountspecified by the check.

FIGS. 1A and 1B show front and back sides, respectively, of a “blank”check 100—that is, a check that has been printed, e.g., by a checkprinting company, but which has not yet been filled out by the drawer tospecify details such as the amount or payee. As shown in FIG. 1A, theblank check includes a rectangular piece of paper check stock (or othersuitable substrate) on which various information has been imprintedusing suitable inks or the like. This information typically includes abank routing number 102, which specifies a particular bank or financialinstitution, a bank account number 104 (unique to a particular customeror drawer), a check number 106 (typically a serial number of aparticular check within a series of checks) that appears at twolocations on the check as shown, a signature field 108 (for signature bythe drawer), a payee field 116, a numeric monetary amount field 110, analphabetic monetary amount field 112, and a “For” or “memo” field inwhich the drawer optionally may include notes, e.g., relating to theunderlying transaction to which the check relates. In general, a drawer(or someone on his/her behalf) is required to fill out fields 108, 110,112, 114, and 116 in order for the check to be legally recognized. Thecheck 100 also may include drawer's information 118 such as the drawer'sname and address, and bank information 120 such as the bank's name andaddress.

FIG. 1B shows the reverse side (equivalently, the “back” or “backside”)of the check 100, which includes an endorsement field 122. Typically,the payee of the check 100 will provide his or her signature in theendorsement field 122 (and potentially other information such as “ForDeposit Only”) when presenting the check to the drawee for deposit orpayment of the specified amount.

Recently, banks and other financial institutions have started providingcustomers with a convenient service known as “mobile check deposit” thateliminates the need for a payee to bring the physical check to his orher bank for deposit. Typically, a mobile check service operates asfollows: using a mobile device, such as a smart phone, that has a cameraand a special purpose software application installed and executingthereon (“the mobile app”), a payee takes photos of the front andreverse sides of a filled out check to be deposited. The mobile app thenuploads the images to a server associated with the financialinstitution, which uses optical character recognition (“OCR”) todetermine the amount of the check, and to read other information on thecheck such as the routing number, the account number and the checknumber. Using this information, and subject to various check andverifications, the financial institution provisionally credits thepayee's account by the amount of the check, and initiates communicationswithin the banking network to cause the corresponding amount to bededucted from the drawer's account and transferred to the payee'saccount.

SUMMARY

Aspects of the systems, techniques and articles described here mayinclude one or more of the following features.

In an implementation, an article for use as a negotiable instrument(e.g., a check) may include a substrate (e.g., paper) having a frontside and reverse side; first machine-printed information on thesubstrate's front side including an account number associated with thenegotiable instrument, and a unique identifier associated with thenegotiable instrument, the first machine-printed information uniquelyidentifying the negotiable instrument; and second machine-printedinformation on the substrate's reverse side that corresponds to thefirst machine-printed information such that comparison of respectiveimages of the substrate's front and reverse sides indicates that theimages correspond to the same negotiable instrument. The secondmachine-printed information may comprise human-readable alphanumerictext that matches account number and the serial number printed on thesubstrate's front side. Alternatively, the second machine-printedinformation may include a non-alphanumeric mark, for example, encodedinformation such as a bar code or a (“quick response”) QR-code, and/orencrypted information. The first machine-printed information may includehuman-readable alphanumeric text, and/or may be encrypted. The secondmachine-printed information may be unreadable by an unaided human eye,for example, microprint. Alternatively or in addition, the secondmachine-printed information may be printed in solvent sensitive ink. Theunique identifier may be a serial number of the negotiable instrument.The first machine-printed information and the second machine-printedinformation may have different visual appearances.

In another implementation, an article may comprise a plurality of blankpaper checks, each check comprising (a) a paper document having a frontside and a back side; (b) first machine-printed information on the paperdocument's front side including (i) a payee field, (ii) a monetaryamount field, (iii) a signature field, (iv) a routing number that iscommon to all of the plurality of blank paper checks, (v) an accountnumber that is common to all of the plurality of blank paper checks, and(vi) a serial number that is unique to each blank paper check within theplurality of blank paper checks; and (c) second machine-printedinformation on the paper document's back side including (i) anendorsement field, and (ii) indicia that links each paper document'sback side to the front side of the same paper document.

The indicia may include the account number and the serial numberappearing on the front side of the corresponding paper document. Theindicia may include non-alphanumeric information, for example, encodedinformation such as a bar-code or a QR-code. At least a portion of thesecond machine-printed information may be encrypted.

In another implementation, a method performed by data processingapparatus may include receiving user input data relating to a checkingaccount at a financial institution; printing a front side of each of aplurality of blank checks based on the received user input data, whereineach printed check front side includes an identifier that uniquelyidentifies each blank check at least within the plurality of blankchecks; and on a back side of each blank check, printing informationcorresponding to the identifier printed on the same check's front side

The identifier that uniquely identifies each blank check at least withinthe plurality of blank checks may include (a) an account numbercorresponding to the checking account at the financial institution, and(b) a serial number of the check. The identifier that uniquelyidentifies each blank check at least within the plurality of blankchecks may include a non-alphanumeric mark such as a barcode or aQR-code. The identifier printed on the check's back side may includeinformation that is encoded or encrypted or both.

In another implementation, a computer-implemented method performed bydata processing apparatus comprises receiving user input data relatingto a checking account; printing a front side of each of a plurality ofblank checks based on the received user input data, wherein each printedcheck front side includes indicia uniquely identifying each printedcheck; and on a backside of each blank check, printing the same uniqueindicia identifying each printed check as is on the front side of eachprinted check.

In another implementation, a computer-implemented method of detectingcheck fraud, the method comprises receiving from a remote device (a) twodigital images of a physical negotiable instrument including a frontside image and a back side image, and (b) a request to deposit thenegotiable instrument in a specified account associated with a financialinstitution; inspecting each of the front side image and the back sideimage to determine whether each image includes information that uniquelyidentifies the same physical negotiable instrument; and selectivelydeciding whether to deposit an amount specified by the negotiableinstrument into the specified account based on a result of theinspection.

Selectively deciding whether to deposit the amount specified by thenegotiable instrument into the specified account based on a result ofthe inspection comprises deciding to deposit the amount specified by thenegotiable instrument into the specified account if the inspectiondetermines that each image identifies the same physical negotiableinstrument. Alternatively, selectively deciding whether to deposit theamount specified by the negotiable instrument into the specified accountbased on a result of the inspection comprises deciding to refuse depositof the amount specified by the negotiable instrument into the specifiedaccount if the inspection determines that each image does not identifythe same physical negotiable instrument.

In another implementation, a check printing system comprises a front-endserver configured to receive user input specifying account informationassociated with a financial institution; a production server configuredto process the received user input to generate a print file describing aplurality of blank paper checks to be printed, each blank check having afront side and a back side, the print file specifying for each blankcheck to be printed (a) first machine-printed information for printingon the check's front side including an identifier that is unique to eachblank paper check within the plurality of blank paper check, and (b)second machine-printed information for printing on the check's back sideincluding information that uniquely links the check's back side to thesame check's front side; and a printer configured to receive the printfile, and for each blank check, to print the first machine-printedinformation on the check's front side, and to print the secondmachine-printed information of the check's back side.

The identifier that is unique to each blank paper check with theplurality of blank paper checks may include an account number that iscommon to all of the blank paper checks and serial number of the checkwithin the plurality of blank paper checks. The first machine-printedinformation and the second-machine printed information on each blankpaper check may have substantially the same visual appearance.Alternatively, the first machine-printed information and thesecond-machine printed information on each blank paper check may havedifferent visual appearances but represent common information.

Among others, the foregoing features potentially provide variousadvantages. For example, by printing a unique identifier on the frontand reverse sides of a physical check, the problem of mobile checkdeposit fraud, arising from a bad actor's attempting to submit checkfront and back images that correspond to different physical checks, canbe minimized.

The foregoing and other features, aspects, and potential advantages willbecome apparent from the description, the figures, and the claims.

FIGURES

FIGS. 1A and 1B show front side and reverse side images, respectively,of a conventional blank check.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show front side and reverse side images, respectively,of an implementation of a variable, dual-sided printed check.

FIG. 3 is a workflow diagram for variable, dual-sided printing of blankchecks.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of computing devices that may be used toimplement the systems and methods described in this document.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present inventors recognized that conventional checks could be usedto commit fraud in the context of mobile check deposits. This is becausea bad actor seeking to commit fraud need not present the physical checkto the depositing institution, but rather need only transmit separateimages of a check's front side and a check's reverse side, but notnecessarily images that correspond to the same physical check.Consequently, because the reverse sides of conventional checks, forrelevant purposes, essentially appear all the same, there is no way forthe depositing institution to determine whether a received check reverseside image actually corresponds to the same physical, paper check as thereceived front side image. As a result, a bad actor is able to reuse asingle check reverse side image (e.g., which has been endorsed) formultiple different check front side images, even though the physicalchecks corresponding to those front side images have not in fact beenendorsed.

Based on this recognition, the present inventors developed techniquesfor performing dual-sided printing on checks or other negotiableinstruments such that a reverse side image of a check includes one ormore indicia or items of information that can be used to determinewhether the received reverse side image corresponds to the same physicalcheck as the received front side image. Among other advantages, thisvariable dual-sided printing enables check printers to print checks thatare less susceptible to mobile deposit check fraud.

FIGS. 2A and 2B depict an implementation of a dual-sided, printed check200 having a front side as shown in FIG. 2A that includes a routingnumber 202, an account number 204, and a check number 206, such as foundon conventional checks. The check's front side optionally also caninclude an indicium 208, for example, an emblem or logo associated withthe checking printing company, the drawer, or the drawer's bank.

FIG. 2B shows the reverse side of the same check 200 depicted in FIG.2A. As shown, the check's reverse side includes not only the standardendorsement field 122, but also includes one or more indicia thatenables the check's reverse side shown in FIG. 2B to be uniquelyidentified as corresponding to the same check's front side shown in FIG.2A. An example of such indicia is indicated by unique identifier 212,which corresponds to a numeric string formed, in this example, of 18digits, separated by a dash. The first 14 digits (“00012345678900”),indicated by reference numeral 216 are the same as the account number204 shown on the check's front side in FIG. 2A. The last four digits(“2112”), indicated by reference numeral 214, are the same as the checknumber 206 shown on the check's front side in FIG. 2A.

Consequently, if in the context of a mobile check deposit, a depositingbank received images of a check's front side and reverse side as shownin FIGS. 2A and 2B, respectively, an analysis and comparison of thoseimages would reveal that they corresponded to the same physical checkbecause the digits 216 and digits 214 on the check's reverse side matchthe account number 204 and check number 206, respectively, on thecheck's front side. In contrast, if the depositing bank received areverse side image as shown in FIG. 2B along with a front side imagehaving either an account number 204 or a check number 206 that did notmatch digits 216 and digits 214, respectively, then a comparison ofthose two images would reveal that they did not correspond to the samephysical check, thereby suggesting fraudulent activity. In that regard,as shown in FIG. 2B, the check 200 further includes “Do Not Cash”instructions 220 explaining fact-specific circumstances under which thecheck should not be cashed, for example, “Do not cash if: . . . Thenumber below the endorsement does not match account number followed bycheck number.”

Other indicia may be printed on the check's front and reverse sides thathelp to establish that images of a check's front and reverse sidescorrespond to the same physical check. For example, the name of thecheck printer or financial institution associated with the check can beprinted on both sides of the check as shown at 207 and 218 in FIGS. 2Aand 2B, respectively. Similarly, an emblem or logo (208 a in FIG. 2a ;208 a in FIG. 2B) can be printed on both sides of the check. In thisexample, the emblems 208 a and 208 b each represents a portion of acorporate logo (a stylized “H”) that are printed in registration witheach other on respective front and back sides of the check 200. When thecheck 200, which is printed on a semi-translucent substrate, is held upto a light source, both portions of the logo become visible, andcollectively form the complete corporate logo. Although such indicia donot necessarily uniquely identify, in a global sense, the check frontand reverse side images as corresponding to the same physical check,they add to the check holder's confidence that the front and back imagescorrespond to the same physical check, and thus tend to make it moredifficult for a check forger to reuse an endorsed check reverse sideimage with multiple different check front side images.

Moreover, to uniquely identify the check's front and reverse side imagesas corresponding to the same physical check, the indicia appearing onthe front and back of the physical check do not necessarily have to beidentical, or even similar, in visual appearance. For example, a frontside of a check could include information that uniquely identifies thecheck (e.g., by the account number 204 coupled with the check number206) while the reverse side of the same check could include essentiallythe same unique information but in a different format or arrangement.For example, the reverse side of the check could include the check'saccount number and check number encoded in a bar code or a quickresponse (“QR”) code or a similar encoded mark 222. Similarly, thereverse side of the check optionally may have the check's account numberand check number printed thereon in ink that is invisible to the humaneye under normal conditions (e.g., micro-printing or invisible ink), butwhich is captured when the front and/or reverse side images of the checkare generated. Other specialty inks may be used, for example, fugitiveinks such as solvent sensitive ink. Using solvent sensitive ink may bebeneficial in a situation, for example, where a bad actor attempts to“wash” a check, that is, use a solvent to erase details from afilled-out check in order to allow it to be re-written. So if thevariable, unique information is printed on the check's reverse side insolvent sensitive ink, then the variable, unique information will alsobe washed away if the bad actor washes the check. As a result, the checkwill no longer include the variable, unique information on its backside, thereby indicating fraudulent activity.

In general, essentially any variable information (i.e., information thatvaries from check-to-check, and which uniquely identifies the check) canbe printed on the reverse side (i.e., endorsement side) of a check orother negotiable instrument provided that printed informationsufficiently links the front and reverse sides of the physical checksuch that a depositing bank can determine, through comparison of frontand reverse side images, whether the compared images correspond to thesame physical document. Such printed information need not bealphanumeric but rather can be, or include, non-alphanumeric graphicmarks, images, and/or codes.

Moreover, the variable printed content such as the unique identifier 212or encoded mark 222 could be encrypted, e.g., by using public/privatekey encryption or other encryption schemes. Encrypting the variableprinted content would provide the benefit, among others, of making itextremely difficult, if not virtually impossible, for a bad actor toforge a check's reverse side to make it match the correspondinginformation on the opposite side of a different check. For example,without encryption, a bad actor in theory could forge a check's reverseside (or modify a check's reverse side image digitally using photoediting software) to include the string of digits 212 shown in FIG. 2Bto cause the check's reverse side image to match the account and checknumber information on the check's front side image, thereby potentiallydefeating the protections provided by the variable dual-sided printedcontent techniques described here. However, if each check's reverse sideis printed with information that, for example, corresponds to anencrypted value of the check's account number and check number appearingon the front side, the forger—not knowing the encryption key—would notknow how to modify the check's back image to cause it to match theinformation on the front image that uniquely identifies the check.

FIG. 3 is a workflow diagram 300 for variable, dual-sided printing ofblank checks. In general, variable, dual-sided printing is accomplishedusing a dual pass method in which blank check stock is first passedthrough the system to print a first side of a blank check (e.g., a frontside), and then is passed again to print the other side of the blankcheck (e.g., a reverse side). Alternatively, the front and back sidescould be printed in the opposite order, or could be printedsimultaneously, or at least partially so, provided dual-sided productionequipment was used.

At block 302, the system 300 receives the check order or product data,for example, a check type (e.g., business or personal), along with anyor all of the various items of information identified in FIG. 1A. Thisproduct information may be received either from a front-end system 310that interfaces with customers to receive orders for blank checks,and/or from a database system 312 that stores product informationrelating to previous orders (e.g., when a known customer has re-orderedchecks).

The order/product data is passed to block 304, which processes theorder/product data to generate production systems data, which includesan interpretable print file that describes the checks to be printed.Next, the print file is passed at block 306 to the production systems,which for example, can be implemented using a Canon Oce' PRIMSA™workflow management system. Among other functionality, the productionsystems include a print file interpreter (“PFI”), which interprets theprint file received from block 304 and converts it to a formatunderstandable by the production equipment. Next, the informationresulting from interpretation of the print file is passed to theproduction equipment at block 308, that is, the equipment that actuallyprints and otherwise produces the physical checks. The productionequipment may include, for example, a Canon JetStream® printer andfinishing equipment manufactured by EMT International, Inc.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of computing devices 400, 450 that may be usedto implement the systems and methods described in this document, aseither a client or as a server or plurality of servers. Computing device400 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such aslaptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers,blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers. Computingdevice 450 is intended to represent various forms of mobile devices,such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smartphones,and other similar computing devices. Additionally computing device 400or 450 can include Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drives. The USBflash drives may store operating systems and other applications. The USBflash drives can include input/output components, such as a wirelesstransmitter or USB connector that may be inserted into a USB port ofanother computing device. The components shown here, their connectionsand relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only,and are not meant to limit implementations of the inventions describedand/or claimed in this document.

Computing device 400 includes a processor 402, memory 404, a storagedevice 406, a high speed interface 408 connecting to memory 404 and highspeed expansion ports 410, and a low speed interface 412 connecting tolow speed bus 414 and storage device 406. Each of the components 402,404, 406, 408, 410, and 412, are interconnected using various busses,and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners asappropriate. The processor 402 can process instructions for executionwithin the computing device 400, including instructions stored in thememory 404 or on the storage device 406 to display graphical informationfor a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 416coupled to high speed interface 408. In other implementations, multipleprocessors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along withmultiple memories and types of memory. Also, multiple computing devices400 may be connected, with each device providing portions of thenecessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers,or a multi-processor system).

The memory 404 stores information within the computing device 400. Inone implementation, the memory 404 is a volatile memory unit or units.In another implementation, the memory 404 is a non-volatile memory unitor units. The memory 404 may also be another form of computer-readablemedium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.

The storage device 406 is capable of providing mass storage for thecomputing device 400. In one implementation, the storage device 406 maybe or contain a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device,a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flashmemory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array ofdevices, including devices in a storage area network or otherconfigurations. A computer program product can be tangibly embodied inan information carrier. The computer program product may also containinstructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such asthose described above. The information carrier is a computer- ormachine-readable medium, such as the memory 404, the storage device 406,or memory on processor 402.

The high speed controller 408 manages bandwidth-intensive operations forthe computing device 400, while the low speed controller 412 manageslower bandwidth-intensive operations. Such allocation of functions isexemplary only. In one implementation, the high speed controller 408 iscoupled to memory 404, display 416 (e.g., through a graphics processoror accelerator), and to high speed expansion ports 410, which may acceptvarious expansion cards (not shown). In the implementation, low speedcontroller 412 is coupled to storage device 406 and low speed expansionport 414. The low speed expansion port, which may include variouscommunication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet)may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard,a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch orrouter, e.g., through a network adapter.

The computing device 400 may be implemented in a number of differentforms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as astandard server 420, or multiple times in a group of such servers. Itmay also be implemented as part of a rack server system 424. Inaddition, it may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptopcomputer 422. Alternatively, components from computing device 400 may becombined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such asdevice 450. Each of such devices may contain one or more of computingdevice 400, 450, and an entire system may be made up of multiplecomputing devices 400, 450 communicating with each other.

Computing device 450 includes a processor 452, memory 464, aninput/output device such as a display 454, a communication interface466, and a transceiver 468, among other components. The device 450 mayalso be provided with a storage device, such as a microdrive or otherdevice, to provide additional storage. Each of the components 450, 452,464, 454, 466, and 468, are interconnected using various buses, andseveral of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or inother manners as appropriate.

The processor 452 can execute instructions within the computing device450, including instructions stored in the memory 464. The processor maybe implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multipleanalog and digital processors. Additionally, the processor may beimplemented using any of a number of architectures. For example, theprocessor 402 may be a CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computers)processor, a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) processor, or aMISC (Minimal Instruction Set Computer) processor. The processor mayprovide, for example, for coordination of the other components of thedevice 450, such as control of user interfaces, applications run bydevice 450, and wireless communication by device 450.

Processor 452 may communicate with a user through control interface 458and display interface 456 coupled to a display 454. The display 454 maybe, for example, a TFT (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display)display or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or otherappropriate display technology. The display interface 456 may compriseappropriate circuitry for driving the display 454 to present graphicaland other information to a user. The control interface 458 may receivecommands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor452. In addition, an external interface 462 may be provide incommunication with processor 452, so as to enable near areacommunication of device 450 with other devices. External interface 462may provide, for example, for wired communication in someimplementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations,and multiple interfaces may also be used.

The memory 464 stores information within the computing device 450. Thememory 464 can be implemented as one or more of a computer-readablemedium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatilememory unit or units. Expansion memory 474 may also be provided andconnected to device 450 through expansion interface 472, which mayinclude, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) cardinterface. Such expansion memory 474 may provide extra storage space fordevice 450, or may also store applications or other information fordevice 450. Specifically, expansion memory 474 may include instructionsto carry out or supplement the processes described above, and mayinclude secure information also. Thus, for example, expansion memory 474may be provide as a security module for device 450, and may beprogrammed with instructions that permit secure use of device 450. Inaddition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, alongwith additional information, such as placing identifying information onthe SIMM card in a non-hackable manner.

The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or NVRAM memory,as discussed below. In one implementation, a computer program product istangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer programproduct contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or moremethods, such as those described above. The information carrier is acomputer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 464, expansionmemory 474, or memory on processor 452 that may be received, forexample, over transceiver 468 or external interface 462.

Device 450 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface466, which may include digital signal processing circuitry wherenecessary. Communication interface 466 may provide for communicationsunder various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, orMMS messaging, CDMA, TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others.Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequencytransceiver 468. In addition, short-range communication may occur, suchas using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown). Inaddition, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver module 470 mayprovide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data todevice 450, which may be used as appropriate by applications running ondevice 450.

Device 450 may also communicate audibly using audio codec 460, which mayreceive spoken information from a user and convert it to usable digitalinformation. Audio codec 460 may likewise generate audible sound for auser, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device 450. Suchsound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may include recordedsound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.) and may also includesound generated by applications operating on device 450.

The computing device 450 may be implemented in a number of differentforms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as acellular telephone 480. It may also be implemented as part of asmartphone 482, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobiledevice.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here canbe realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry,specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits),computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.These various implementations can include implementation in one or morecomputer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processor, whichmay be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data andinstructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storagesystem, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications or code) include machine instructions for a programmableprocessor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/orobject-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machinelanguage. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium”“computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product,apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory,Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructionsand/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readablemedium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniquesdescribed here can be implemented on a computer having a display device(e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor)for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointingdevice (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provideinput to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide forinteraction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to theuser can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback,auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can bereceived in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in acomputing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a dataserver), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an applicationserver), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computerhaving a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a usercan interact with an implementation of the systems and techniquesdescribed here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, orfront end components. The components of the system can be interconnectedby any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., acommunication network). Examples of communication networks include alocal area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), peer-to-peernetworks (having ad-hoc or static members), grid computinginfrastructures, and the Internet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

Although a few implementations have been described in detail above,other modifications are possible. In addition, the logic flows depictedin the figures do not require the particular order shown, or sequentialorder, to achieve desirable results. Other steps may be provided, orsteps may be eliminated, from the described flows, and other componentsmay be added to, or removed from, the described systems. Accordingly,other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is: 1-29. (canceled)
 30. A blank paper check comprising:a substrate having a front side and reverse side; first machine-printedinformation on the substrate's front side including a unique identifierassociated with the blank paper check, the first machine-printedinformation uniquely identifying the blank paper check; and secondmachine-printed information, separate from the first machine-printedinformation and printed directly on the substrate's reverse side thatcorresponds to the first machine-printed information such thatcomparison of respective images of the substrate's front and reversesides indicates that the images correspond to the same blank papercheck.
 31. The blank paper check of claim 30, wherein the secondmachine-printed information comprises human-readable alphanumeric textthat matches the unique identifier printed on the substrate's frontside.
 32. The blank paper check of claim 30, wherein the secondmachine-printed information comprises a non-alphanumeric mark.
 33. Theblank paper check of claim 32, wherein the first machine-printedinformation comprises human-readable alphanumeric text.
 34. The blankpaper check of claim 32, wherein the non-alphanumeric mark comprisesencoded information.
 35. The blank paper check of claim 34, wherein theencoded information comprises a bar code or a QR-code.
 36. The blankpaper check of claim 30, wherein the second machine-printed informationis unreadable by an unaided human eye.
 37. The blank paper check ofclaim 36, wherein the second machine-printed information comprisesmicroprint.
 38. The blank paper check of claim 30, wherein the secondmachine-printed information is encrypted.
 39. The blank paper check ofclaim 30, wherein the second machine-printed information comprisessolvent sensitive ink.
 40. The blank paper check of claim 30, whereinthe unique identifier comprises a serial number of the blank papercheck.
 41. The blank paper check of claim 30, where the firstmachine-printed information and the second machine-printed informationhave different visual appearances.
 42. The blank paper check of claim30, further comprising: a plurality of blank paper checks, each blankpaper check comprising: (a) a paper document having a front side and aback side; (b) first machine-printed information on the paper document'sfront side including (i) a payee field, (ii) a monetary amount field,(iii) a signature field, (iv) a routing number that is common to all ofthe plurality of blank paper checks, (v) an account number that iscommon to all of the plurality of blank paper checks, and (vi) a serialnumber that is unique to each blank paper check within the plurality ofblank paper checks; (c) second machine-printed information on the paperdocument's back side including (i) an endorsement field, and (ii)indicia that links each paper document's back side to the front side ofthe same paper document.
 43. The blank paper check of claim 42, whereinthe indicia comprises the account number and the serial number appearingon the front side of the corresponding paper document.
 44. The blankpaper check of claim 42, wherein the indicia comprises non-alphanumericinformation.
 45. The blank paper check of claim 44, wherein thenon-alphanumeric information comprises encoded information.
 46. Theblank paper check of claim 45, wherein the encoded information comprisesa bar code or a QR-code.
 47. The blank paper check of claim 42, whereinat least a portion of the second machine-printed information isencrypted.
 48. The blank paper check of claim 30, wherein the blankpaper check lacks machine-printed or hand-printed information that wouldgive it legal effect as a negotiable instrument.
 49. A method performedby data processing apparatus, the method comprising: receiving userinput data relating to a checking account at a financial institution;printing first machine-printed information on a front side of each of aplurality of blank paper checks based on the received user input data,wherein each printed check front side includes an identifier thatuniquely identifies each blank paper check at least within the pluralityof blank paper checks; and on a back side of each blank paper check,printing second machine-printed information, separate from the firstmachine-printed information, and corresponding to the identifier printedon the same blank paper check's front side, wherein the firstmachine-printed information and the second machine-printed informationare such that a comparison of respective images of the same blank papercheck's front and back sides indicates that the images correspond to thesame blank paper check.
 50. The method of claim 49, wherein theidentifier that uniquely identifies each blank paper check at leastwithin the plurality of blank paper checks comprises (a) an accountnumber corresponding to the checking account at the financialinstitution, and (b) a serial number of the check.
 51. The method ofclaim 49, wherein the identifier that uniquely identifies each blankpaper check at least within the plurality of blank paper checkscomprises a non-alphanumeric mark.
 52. The method of claim 51, whereinthe non-alphanumeric mark comprises a barcode or a QR-code.
 53. Themethod of claim 49, wherein the identifier printed on each blank papercheck's back side comprises information that is encoded or encrypted orboth.
 54. A computer-implemented method of detecting check fraud, themethod comprising: at a financial institution at a first geographicallocation, receiving from a remote device at a second geographicallocation different from the first geographical location, (a) two digitalimages of a physical negotiable instrument including a front side imageand a back side image, and (b) a request to deposit the negotiableinstrument in a specified account associated with the financialinstitution, wherein, due at least in part to a physical distancebetween the first geographical location and the second geographicallocation, the financial institution has access only to the received twodigital images of the physical negotiable instrument and not to thephysical negotiable instrument itself, wherein the digital image of thephysical negotiable instrument's front side includes informationincluding at least a dollar amount, a payee identifier, an accountnumber, and a serial number, and the digital of the physical negotiableinstrument's back side includes at least an endorsement; at thefinancial institution, inspecting each of the front side image and theback side image to determine whether each of the two images includesmachine printed information that uniquely identifies the same physicalnegotiable instrument; and at the financial institution, selectivelydepositing an amount specified by the negotiable instrument into thespecified account only if the inspection determines that each of the twoimages includes machine printed information that uniquely identifies thesame physical negotiable instrument.
 55. The method of claim 54, whereinselectively depositing the amount specified by the negotiable instrumentinto the specified account comprises either (a) deciding to deposit theamount specified by the negotiable instrument into the specified accountif the inspection determines that each image identifies the samephysical negotiable instrument, or (b) deciding to refuse deposit of theamount specified by the negotiable instrument into the specified accountif the inspection determines that each image does not identify the samephysical negotiable instrument.
 56. A blank paper check printing systemcomprising: a front-end server configured to receive user inputspecifying account information associated with a financial institution;a production server configured to process the received user input togenerate a print file describing a plurality of blank paper checks to beprinted, each blank paper check having a front side and a back side, theprint file specifying for each blank paper check to be printed (a) firstmachine-printed information for printing directly on the check's frontside including an identifier that is unique to each blank paper checkwithin the plurality of blank paper check, and (b) secondmachine-printed information, separate from the first machine-printedinformation, for printing directly on the blank paper check's back sideincluding information that uniquely links the blank paper check's backside to the same blank paper check's front side; and a printerconfigured to receive the print file, and for each blank paper check, todirectly print the first machine-printed information on the blank papercheck's front side, and to separately and directly print the secondmachine-printed information of the blank paper check's back side. 57.The system of claim 56, wherein the identifier that is unique to eachblank paper check with the plurality of blank paper checks comprises anaccount number that is common to all of the blank paper checks and aserial number of the check that is unique within the plurality of blankpaper checks.
 58. The system of claim 56, wherein the firstmachine-printed information and the second-machine printed informationon each blank paper check have substantially the same visual appearance.59. The system of claim 56, wherein the first machine-printedinformation and the second-machine printed information on each blankpaper check have different visual appearances but represent commoninformation.